


Passing notes

by Katy_Stark



Category: Original Work
Genre: Angst, Enemies to Friends, F/M, I Don't Even Know, Original Fiction, Single Parents, kind of, university student
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-11
Updated: 2019-01-15
Packaged: 2019-10-08 01:43:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,806
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17377181
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Katy_Stark/pseuds/Katy_Stark
Summary: Steven Miller is a single father with two kids that don't have good eye-coordination.Sophie Martinez is a university student renting the house next door.On a day where Steven is tired, playing with his kids in the yard, one of the toys goes into Miss Martinez's garden yet again. When the toy is returned with an additional note, Steven's resolve breaks and he storms over, resulting in a conversation that kicks off a whole world of trouble for the both of them.





	1. Chapter 1

Steven had had a long day.

He didn't like his job. He didn't like his suit. He didn't like his house. Work wore him out, the suit was itchy and pinchy, and his house was too cramped for its residents. He constantly came home irritated and exhausted grumpy.

In fact, the only thing that ever seemed to bring him joy anymore were his kids, Sammy, age six, and Cathy, age seven. Picking them up from school to drive back to the house that always made creepy noises and ended up causing his kids to basically take over his bed each night, he could relax with a glass of wine and make dinner before letting them outside to play in the back garden.

The thing about being six and seven is that usually, hand-eye coordination isn't very strong. And that's why often, footballs and tennis balls ended up in the neighbour's gardens. Usually, the balls were quickly thrown back over the fences once they had been discovered or once one of the children felt brave enough to run around and ask. But not all the neighbours around were so kind or humble. Specifically their neighbour on the left, number twelve, a much more rundown house compared to their own cramped building, belonging to a teenager paying her way through University on her own.

If balls were ever lost over that fence, they normally wouldn't be seen again for weeks, and she never answered to the children when they knocked on the door. Her music played loud at night when he was trying to sleep and she was never kind in passing when Steven saw her returning home from uni, looking just as tired and exhausted as he did when he drove home from the school. Steven didn't know her family situation, or the courses she studied, or anything past the type of music she liked to blare and the alcohol she liked to drink. And that was just fine with him as long as she kept to herself and didn't start anything.

However, this seemed to be the day she started something.

Steven was already tired, even more so than normal, it seemed. Having only just sat down on the leather sofa with his wine glass in hand, listening and watching the kids through the glass door at the back porch, he let his muscles loosen and the pain in his neck ease off, breathing a sigh and finally letting himself relax after a long day.

This bliss lasted all of five minutes before he was being drawn out of his short nap by a tug on his shirt and a poke on his cheek.

"Daaaaad?" Sammy- no, Cathy. That voice was Cathy. He opened his stark blue eyes to the similar pair staring back at him belonging to the brunette standing there with a smile and football in her hands. "Will you come play with us, please?" The little girl blinked her eyelashes at her father, adorable freckles spread over her cheeks and nose making her a picture too hard to resist, regardless of how much Steven's tiredness was trying to drag him back into his 'nap'. Steven smiled at her tiredly.

"Cathy, I'm really tired-."

"Pleaaaaase? Pretty, pretty, please? Sammy wants you to play too." The brunette gestured to the glass window where her father could see Sammy running around the garden in her pink and blue wool jacket patterned with butterflies as her attention was quickly taken by one or another thing now her sister was out of her sightline. Steven groaned, putting down his wine he had somehow not yet spilt and rubbed his hands over his face. When pulling them away, his eyes fell on the puppy look his daughter gave him, and he quickly caved.

"Alright. But only for a little while."

"Thank you." Cathy kissed his cheek and ran off back through the kitchen and out of the back door. Steven groaned, throwing his head back before pushing himself off the sofa and heading out through the kitchen door to the back garden to play a little with his kids.

Steven should have known it wouldn't stay football for long. His kids were so hyperactive. It amazed him considering they never usually had that much sugar... or at least that's what the food packages said. Football turned to basketball with the hoop hanging on for dear life out of the brick of the back house wall, before it went into a game of frisbee. Sammy and Cathy giggled as they played, and even with how tired he felt, Steven played along and smiled at his kids playing happily. 

And then the frisbee went over the fence. Into the neighbours garden. _That_ neighbour's garden.

Silence fell between the three, and then a disappointed whine from the two girls sounded, and Steven sighed. He decided he shouldn't make a big deal out of it, he was tired, it was nearly bedtime anyway, and he had a big meeting the next morning he needed to be ready for. Leading the kids into the house and giving up on the plastic disk almost instantly, he felt like if anything else was to happen today, he may do something regrettable.

So, when the frisbee suddenly came right back over the fence with a bright yellow sticky note and a cursive message written there _'I hate you fucking kids'_ , Steven close to lost his shit.

 

****

 

Sophie opened her can with a hiss, sipping the fizzy drink as she walked out of the kitchen into the living room. It was getting dark outside, and the TV was now just background noise to her studying at the dining area table. January was always a bad month for Uni.

A knock on the door stopped her from putting the can down on the table beside her open booklets. Furrowing her brow, she headed over to the window and peeked out, seeing her neighbour, Steven Miller, standing at the doorstep. Great. She shut the beige plain curtains quickly before walking to the door and opening it to her guest.

"Good evening," Steven tried his best polite smile he would normally use at work.

"Yeah?" Sophie raised an eyebrow, leaning on the doorframe, still holding her can.

"I'd like to talk to you about earlier today. About the frisbee incident." The father continued, nodding to the back garden behind her.

"Right." She nodded softly. Steven didn't say anything further, having not planned this out very much about what he wanted to say. He was annoyed but he hadn't planned what he wanted to say to her while he put Sammy and Cathy to bed. He'd needed to be clear-headed with his children. It was the least they deserved from a father. "Speak quickly. Its cold and the heat is escaping." Sophie pressed.

"May I come in, then?" Steven tried. Sophie closed her eyes, sighed exasperatedly, and moved to let him walk in. Closing the door behind him, she strolled into the living room, dropping back onto the sofa.

"So, what, you're here to chew me out for a bit of paper?" She crossed her legs and sipped her drink can as Steven joined her, standing awkwardly to the side.

"There was no need for the note. Or swearing. You could have just returned the frisbee without a fuss. Acting further was inappropriate."

"Do you dress up for all your house visits or am I special?" She nodded to his suit, the only part he didn't have on was the jacket, but the suit and tie had remained.

"I haven't gotten the chance to change yet."

"You've been home for five hours."

"We're not talking about that. We're talking about the fact that I don't appreciate you writing notes like that directed at my children. Its threatening and insulting and you could get in a lot of trouble for writing it." He crossed his arms.

"No, it's just stating a fact. Your little monsters are annoying as hell. Every other day I get their toys in my back yard. Do they aim to do that or are they just shit at sports?" She scoffed, turning the TV volume up.

"Try not to swear, please." Steven raised his volume to match. "And they are only young. What would you have me do? Stop them having fun?"

"Are you done yet?" She put her can down, folding her arms under her head.

"Are you going to send another note over the next time something lands in your garden?"

"Probably." The late teen shrugged. Steven furrowed his face. "Anything else or are you done now?"

"You're not being reasonable and you acted with impudence. You made a threat towards my children and are actually quite lucky that I picked up the note before they did."

"What kind of guy says 'impudence'?"

"Make the promise that you won't send any other notes and I will leave it alone."

"Why should I? I was being honest. Honesty is a lesson they should learn in early life, and honesty is that they are annoying little shits."

"You know what?" Steven put his hands on his hips, scoffing and shaking his head. Sophie raised an eyebrow. "You're worse than I thought."

"Oh, please, do go on for the next five hours." She fell back to the sofa, closing her eyes.

"You have no manners whatsoever, you play your music too loud at night after 10:00pm, you litter your empty beer cans on my property, and you procrastinate the return of the kids' toys when they land in your back garden."

"Put in a complaint at the 'couldn't give a fuck' desk. We'll get back to you in about- never." The girl checked an invisible watch. "Now, go before I call the police and tell them you're disrupting my peace." She relaxed back onto the sofa. A few seconds of the background TV show that had turned to some sort of cooking program was the only thing to fill the quiet. Sophie opened one eye to see him still standing there. "Have you gone deaf, dude? Get. Out."

"My kids are aged  _six_ and _seven_. It sets a bad example for you to write that note telling them you 'fucking hate them'."

"Your kids' toys spend more time in my garden than yours. So why don't you just shove them up your ass instead then and fuck off? You won't get any notes of there's no toys." She smiled innocently, batting her eyelashes.

Steven took a step back from the situation. Sophie clearly wasn't going to be listening to reason anytime soon, and she didn't look in a much better state than him either.

Sophie hadn't changed out of her own clothes, she still had on her black converse that were more murky green than black due to the wear and age. And she hadn't bothered to change out of her dark jeans and old band shirt, either. Her shoulder length hair was coming loose from the bobble she'd hastily tied it back with. And she'd been home about as long as Steven had. The only thing that even showed he hadn't got in just now was her papers and booklets splayed out over the dining room table.

"I'll call the police," Steven said after the pause. That seemed to catch her attention, dropping her sarcastic smile, before she huffed.

"You wouldn't."

"I have the note. Its just cause for a threat and arrest."

"You can't prove that was me." The teen shrugged.

"I'm sure the police can compare it to your handwriting over there." Steven gestured to the table, taking a step towards it, only being stopped when Sophie stood in front of him, hand on the back of one of the dining chairs. Steven settled in front of her, glancing over her shoulder at the books spread out in some form of organisation. He took notice of the titles. "You're studying engineering?" He furrowed his brow.

"What's that got to do with anything?" Sophie moved to the side a little to block his view more.

"Its mock exam season for you now, isn't it?" The father said more to himself than her as he began thinking. Sophie clicked her fingers in front of his face, then beside his ear.

"Oy, oldie. Can we get back on point, please?" Steven took another glance back at the books spread out on the table, and then at the teenager standing in front of him.

"Look, I'm going to take a guess that it's been a pretty long day for both of us. So, why don't we just put this behind us. I won't call the police, I can stop mythering you, and you can go back to your studying in peace if you just promise me that you will not send another note like that over my wall to my children. Okay?" Steven sighed gently, looking at her who seemed to be just as tired as him by now. Sophie looked back at her work on the table, then at Steven with a sigh of defeat.

"Fine." She threw her arms up. "Fine. As long as you stop pestering me and try to keep your kids from throwing balls and discs over every other night. I don't like tripping every time I go outside or hearing tennis balls hit my window. If they break or even crack just one, _you_ can be the person to explain to the landlord."

"I'll try. They are only young kids after all." Steven tried to remind her, and she crossed her arms with a gentle nod.

"Right. Now get out of my house."

 

****

Steven quietly unlocked the door and slipped inside, locking it behind him and relaxing with a breath out. He hadn't known how he'd expected that to go, but at least it seemed that he and the teenager had seemed to resolve the situation. At least, for now.

"Dad?" Steven jumped at the voice behind him, spinning to see the youngest of his daughters, Sammy, staring at him in her bunny pyjamas and hugging her favourite teddy, Mr Fluffy.

"Hey, sweetheart," Steven straightened himself up, smiling gently at her. "Wha- what are you doing out of bed? It's dark outside now."

"The monster under my bed is back again." Sammy buried her face in the side of the teddy bear, whining softly. Steven leaned back on the door with a small smile.

"Again?" Sammy nodded into the bear with a muffled 'mm-hmm'. "Well, why don't we go deal with them, and then you can go back to sleep, yeah?" He pulled the bear away from her face and she nodded at him, timidly. Her father smiled. "Is Cathy awake?"

"No." 

"Okay." Steven took her hand in his, considerably smaller and warmer, before heading to the stairs and leading her back up to her bedroom, knowing full well he would end up waking up the next morning with both Sammy and Cathy clinging to him, fast asleep.


	2. Chapter 2

"Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, have you reached a unanimous verdict?"

"We have, your honour."

"Madame Foreman, please read the verdict."

"In the matter of Kaitlin Donovan versus Jamie Sullivan of Starkbies Incorporated, we find in favour of... the plaintiff."

For some, those words were hell, for others a godsend. Today was a godsend. Relief half flooded the room, the others in frustrated disappointment they were unable to get away with their own scandals.

"The jury is thanked and excused. The court is adjourned." 

 

J.D. Miller let out a long breath as soon as he passed through the doors of the courtroom into the hallway. It had been a long trial, expanding over a week to gather information and resources, but it was worth it in the end. Another corrupt company off the streets to stop screwing over their clients. Of course, there was always the chance Starkbies would pay the debt given and just cover it up but there was the possibility the media got there first. Either way, it was a good day for Steven Miller.

Rapid footsteps approaching from behind him made the lawyer turn round to see his client walking to him and shaking his hand.

"Thank you." The woman, Miss Kaitlin Donovan, had glossy honey eyes looking up at Steven in relief and emotion. "Thank you so much."

"It's my job and my pleasure." Steven shook her hand back, smiling his professional smile with a small hint of his own satisfaction of winning the trial mixing in.

"Thank you." She thanked him again before turning around and jogging down the hall to reunite with her friends that had been sat in the courtroom awaiting the verdict.

Steven took a deep breath in, the subtle scent of morning coffee and fresh paperwork hitting his senses, before shuffling towards the cafeteria in hopes of getting his own coffee and winding down after a case as long as this one. But at least the pay would be good for himself, Cathy, and Sammy.

"Steven." A hand clapped on his shoulder, a person appearing on his opposite side with a friendly grin. "How did it go?"

"We won the case. Sullivan is going to have to pay the fine out or declare bankruptcy and leave his company. Either way, this is a good morning for me." Miller filled in his friend as they walked. "How were you on the custody case, Mason?"

"Perfect. A mother reunited with her children. Makes all the prep, research, death threats, crying and screaming worth it." Mason, the ball of energy that was his best friend through school and college, smiled happily. "Kind of." He shrugged, navy tailored suit barely wrinkling. The tie he chose to wear today was unsurprisingly bright, pink with dark navy diamond patterns, a classic. "How are Sammy and Cathy?"

"They're good. School's good, home's... good."

"Hesitation." Mason caught.

"Doesn't matter."

"You know, you can always ask for help if you need it. That is what we tell people, after all." Mason opened the door to the cafeteria first, letting Steven step inside with him to follow. "No need to always play the martyr."

"Mason, I'm good. I swear." Steven spun to him. His friend regarded him up and down as if trying to see what the blond was hiding from him, before giving up with a curt nod.

"Alright. If you're sure." The younger lawyer shrugged, heading up to the counter and picking up a tray. "Do you have any other clients lined up for your next case?"

Steven picked up a tray. "Some. But I might take a break for a few days. I'm exhausted after the last one."

"You should not be pulling all-nighters at your age, Stevie. That was what college was for." Mason picked up a sandwich and coffee on his tray.

"Hey." Steven narrowed his eyes, choosing decaf. "And I won the case, didn't I?"

"Yeah, but you're not taking care of yourself when doing that. It's becoming a bad habit."

"I'm working on it. I'm looking after two kids with a full day job before coming home to look after them and study on the side." Miller picked up a salad.

"I'm not saying you don't have anything else to do. But you need to look after yourself, especially if you expect to take care of Cathy and Sammy properly without tripping over a toy and breaking a leg because you weren't concentrating." The brunet paid for his with a swipe of his card. Steven opted for cash.

"Which one of us pulled his hamstring stepping over a baby gate at three in the morning?"

"I'm just saying." Mason held up his hands before picking up his tray and walking to a free table with his friend. "You will give the kids my best, won't you?"

"Of course I will. They'll be happy to hear it."

 

 

 

Sat down at a table in the cleanest on-campus cafe together, one hot chocolate and one coffee on the table, two students settled down happily together, talking.

"How was your weekend?" Rosaline, the one with an actual coffee between the two, asked the mechanic.

"Well, Friday was weird." Sophie sipped her mug of hot chocolate.

"Fridays are always weird."

"No. Like, really weird." Sophie held her mug with both hands. "I got visited by my neighbour."

"Miller or Thatcher?" The elder raised an eyebrow.

"Miller." The brunette responded. "His kids flung a frisbee into my garden again. I sent a note back over which he didn't approve of so he came round to 'talk'. Threatened to call the police and everything."

"Wha'd you say?" Rosa's crimson lipstick matching her hair left a small stain on the porcelain cup rim. 

"I..." Sophie scrunched her face as she recalled the night and nearly slapped herself in the face. "I was annoyed. I'd been studying all day and then the frisbee hit the door in the dining area and I just kind of... snapped." She rubbed her temples with her fingers, staring down into her mug.  "I'm not proud of what I said. And no, I'm not telling you what I said."

"Awwww."

"No." Sophie shook her head before taking in a breath and sitting up, folding her arms on the table. "What about you? Interesting weekend?"

"Not bad. Tyler took me out on Saturday to the shopping centre. Got a new dress."

"How many dresses do you need?"

"Always one more than I have, it seems. And he said it was his treat so its not my fault." The teen chuckled at the idea. "You got your mechanics paper done?"

"Nearly. I'm on the last part. It's making me want to tear my hair out or throw up every time I see it on the table."

"You need a holiday. In fact, we should all go on a girl's holiday. Grab Sophie and Bridgette and spend a week in Thailand or something. Or go out across the country and swing around some karaoke bars or something, have some real fun." Her friend supplied, taking another sip of the coffee that seemed to be steaming much more than should be drinkable. 

"Maybe when the term's finished. Until then, I'll just stick with stress balls and sleeping medication." Sophie ran her hands through her hair, trying not to let it stress her out too much, tugging gently on the strands before releasing. "Thanks, Roe."

"No problem." Her friend waved it off, hands covered in fingerless leather. "Fancy going out drinking this weekend? Two girls on the town, a night of unbridled debauchery?"

"Possibly. Let's see if either of us are still in the mood after this week when it gets to Friday."

"Good point." The redhead finished her coffee mug and put it back on the saucer. "Good luck in chem."

"Good luck in maths."


End file.
